Taiga Kagami
Taiga Kagami is Tetsuya Kuroko's basketball colleague and friend. He is determined to defeat the Generation of Miracles. He plays as a power forward with Seirin. Appearance Kagami is very muscular for a high school boy. He is very tall, which gives him an overwhelming aura, some say he resembles a tiger. He has dark red hair and red eyes. His eyes are also very narrow and his eyebrows are split. He wears the jersey with the number 10 and wears black and red basketball shoes. He is also occasionally seen with a metal necklace with a ring on it, that represents his friendship with Tatsuya Himuro. When he is seen in his school uniform, he keeps his vest unzipped, with a white shirt underneath. Personality Kagami is very ambitious, stubborn and determined. He refuses to give up in a difficult situationand is very stubborn. He is mostly known for his undying and furious fighting spirit. He enjoys to play against strong opponents and sees no point in playing basketball when there are no stronger opponents. When Kuroko brought Tetsuya #2 to the training, it is revealed that Kagami is scared of dogs.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 74, page 9 This fear originates from his time in America, where he was once bitten by a dog. He overcame this fear when he realized that Tetsuya #2 is good fot the team and petted it. He is also a glutton and is able to eat at least five times a normal meal. He is shown to be a great cook. History In third grade, Kagami moved to the States and attended school there. He had a hard time making friends because of his foreign appearance, but he met Tatsuya Himuro, who invited him to play street basketball with him. Kagami accepted and made his first friend. Kagami, who was still a beginner back then, admired Himuro's talent in basketball and how he made friends that way. When he asked Himuro how to get friends, Himuro told him it came because of basketball, and asked Kagami to play basketball and Himuro would train him. Himuro thought him a lot and Kagami quickly improved and he also made friends. Himuro and Kagami grew closer to each other Kagami saw Himuro as an older brother. In an act of kindness, Himuro bought two rings, gave one to Kagami and told him that those rings are the proof that they're brothers.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 76, page 9 Three years later, because Himuro was one year older than Kagami, Himuro graduated before him. They lost eachother out of sight, until they reunited one year later. Kagami was seen playing basketball and he was invited by some boys to play with their team. They told him he'd be of great value in the competition against another team, with the winner getting the court. The boys tell him that the other team recently got a strong player and Kagami is interested. He decides to join their match and is amazed when he sees Himuro there. Himuro tells hims to play fair and square, hinting that he shouldn't go easy just because they know each other. Kagami agrees and he wins against Himuro for the first time.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 76, page 12 After that, they played every week and they each lost and won the same amount. After 98 games, Himuro tells Kagami that if he loses the next game, he won't see Kagami as his little brother anymore, because the big brother is always stronger than the little brother. In the 99th game, Kagami finds out that Himuro has injured his wrist. Himuro shoots, misses and Kagami runs for the fast break. He goes up for the lay-up, but couldn't bear to win against Himuro and misses on purpose. After the game, Himuro punches Kagami. He tells him that the next match, they'll bet on the ring that represents their friendship. He says to treat the previous game as a draw. And tells him that when he loses the next time, he will have to pretend that they never were friends. But before they had a rematch, Kagami flew back to Japan, not seeing Himuro again for 2 years.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 76, page 18 Story Introduction Kagami is first introduced at Seirin High School's opening ceremony, when he walked in on Koganei and brought him back to the basketball booth. He fills in a registration paper but doesn't write his future goals. When Riko asks him about that, he simply says that Japanese basketball is easy, and leaves.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 9 On the first training, he is seen standing with the other Seirin players. Riko orders them to take off their shirts and she activates her Scan to examine their bodies. When she arrives at Kagami, she sees that his stats are exceptionally high and is very impressed.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 16 So impressed, that she even drools at the sight of his muscles. Riko gets her act together and doesn't see Kuroko anywhere. Kuroko reveals himself and Kagami is very surprised to see a Generation of Miracles who looks this weak. After the training, Kagami goes to a fast-food and orders around 15 hamburgers. He sits at Kuroko's table, without noticing him. Kuroko scares him and Kagami asks what he is doing here. Kuroko replies that he is just watching people. Kagami asks him to tag along somewhere, when he finishes his food.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 21 Kuroko and Kagami go to an empty basketball court and Kagami explains that he's searching for strong basketball players in Japan. He tells Kuroko that he knows he's from the Generation and asks what he is hiding. He challenges Kuroko to a one-on-one, because he wants to see for himself. Kuroko accepts.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 25 When Kagami and Kuroko play, Kagami sees that Kuroko is desperately weak. He thinks that Kuroko is still hiding something, but Kuroko denies this, saying that he knows Kagami is stronger than him. Kuroko tells Kagami that he only agreed to play to see Kagami's strength. Kagami gets ready to leave, saying he won't play weak guys. He tells Kuroko that he should just quit basketball. Kuroko refuses and reveals his true fighting spirit. He says that his strength is different than Kagami's strength, saying that he is a shadow. On the next training, Riko suggests a match, the freshmen against the second-years. Kagami motivates the team by saying that he'd rather play against strong opponents than weak ones. The match begins and Kagami immediately dunks. The match goes on to 11 - 8, with only Kagami scoring.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 1, page 35 Winter Training Camp As the rest of Seirin was training in the mountains with Kagetora, Kagami went back to America in order to meet his old basketball master.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 111, page 18 What he did in America is as of yet unknown, but it is seen that he trained with an African-American, dominating Kagami. Winter Cup When the Winter Cup started, he forgot about the time difference between the US and Japan and missed the opening ceremony. He re-appears when Kuroko is meeting with the rest of the Generation of Miracles. He stands up for Furihata when he was told to go away by Akashi. Skill He is a naturally gifted player that trained in the States prior to coming back to Japan. While he is a powerful all-around player, Kagami's unique skill lies in his ability to jump to great heights. This skill facilitates not only his most common move, the dunk, but also allows him to defend well against taller players; he even uses it to break Midorima's perfect shooting. While he generally jumps with his left leg in order to allow him the use of his more dexterous right arm, his right is far stronger, allowing him to touch the top of the backboard as opposed to just hitting the ring. The drawback to this capability is that, like certain members of the Generation of Miracles, his body is still too underdeveloped in order to use his jumping prowess at great length without potentially damaging himself. Having trained extensively since the Interhigh school championships, he can now dunk from the free-throw line, a feat that may have put him on a level with the Generation of Miracles. * Self alley-oop: A normal alley-oop is when a team-mate throws the ball up high and the scoring player catched the ball and dunks it. Kagami has found a way to do this by himself, that is instead of receiving the ball by passing, shooting the ball himself, grabbing and dunking the ball when it misses.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 28, page 10 & 11 This was a response to Midorima's shooting spree in Seirin's match against Shūtoku High. * Lane up: A lane up is a dunk from the free-throw line. Kagami had the ability to dunk normally and very high, but in the Winter Cup, against Josei High, he ended the game by breaking though his defense, jumping from the free-throw line and dunking.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 83, page 12 A lane up is very difficult, because being able to reach the basket after jumping such a distance is only possible with an extra-ordinary jumping strength, the kind that Kagami possesses. * Kuroko Kagami alley-oop: A move that Kuroko and Kagami often execute. One of the opponents tries to pass, but Kuroko intercepts the ball. He smacks the ball onto the ground in the direction of the basket. Kagami jumps high in the sky, grabs the ball and dunks it in. They have first showed this in the match against Shinkyō AcademyKuroko no Basuke chapter 15, page 4, 5 & 6 and did it again in the game against Seihō High.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 22, page 7 & 8 * ]]Pressure defense: At their match against Shinkyō Academy; Kagami had to defend against Papa Mbaye Siki, a foreign player who is 10 cm taller than him. Before the match Riko had Mitobe learn Kagami how to defend against a player taller than yourself. This technique is simply putting a lot pressure on the regular defense, with the thought "I won't let you play as you want" in your head. When a player is pressured like this, he will experience playing a lot harder and won't get ready as easily.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 14, page 14 Tanimura called this pressure killing intent.Kuroko no Basuke chapter 14, page 15 So far, Kagami only had to use this against Dad. Trivia *On the first character poll, Kagami ranked 3rd, with 1116 votes. *He went down to 4th place on the second poll, with 1036 votes. *His horoscope sign is LeoKuroko no Basuke chapter 30, page 19, indicating that his birthday is between 23 July and 23 August. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Players Category:Seirin High Category:Referenced